New Delhi, India

In a bizarre turn of events, Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar lost his bronze medal at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympic Games after being found not eligible to compete. He had finished third in the men's discus throw F52 class on Sunday (August 29).

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Vinod Kumar had won the bronze with an Asian record of 19.91m throw, however, he was stripped of his medal after some competitors challenged the result. 

After complaints, the discus thrower was put under review by a classification panel and it was deemed that he was not eligible to compete in that particular category. 

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"...The panel was unable to allocate the athlete Vinod Kumar from NPC India with a sport class and the athlete was designated as Classification not Completed (CNC)," the organisers said in a statement.

"The athlete is therefore ineligible for the Men's F52 Discus medal event and his results in that competition are void," it added.

The bronze medal has now been awarded to Aigars Apinis of Latvia, who threw his season's best 19.54m.

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The F52 is part of a sports class where athletes compete in a seated position - either in a wheelchair or a throwing chair due to impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference. 

Athletes classified under F51-F53 have limited shoulder, arm and hand function to varying degrees and usually, no trunk or leg function. 

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Vinod injured both his legs after falling off a cliff while training after joining the BSF. His classification was done on August 22.

Paralympic Committee of India President Deepa Malik told PTI that there is nothing that the PCI can do now.

"Classifications done previously can be challenged during competitions and can be overruled also. There is nothing that India can do now.

(inputs from agencies)